{"id":110672,"date":"2025-09-01T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/110672\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T11:57:11","slug":"cities-under-quarantine-exhibit-opens-at-diriyah-contemporary-art-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/110672\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cities Under Quarantine\u2019 exhibit opens at Diriyah contemporary art museum"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\tJEDDAH: For Ahmad Haddad, art is both a personal and cultural inquiry, with pen marks, traditional dress, and performance converging to question boundaries and preserve heritage through vivid experiences.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe 30-year-old Riyadh-based artist and certified arts educator grew up between Jeddah and Madinah, and works across drawing, digital collage, mixed media, and performance.<\/p>\n


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\n\t\tThe pen is Ahmad Haddad\u2019s main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. (Supplied) <\/p>\n


\n\tThe pen is his main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. His approach is shaped by his studies in psychology, landscape architecture, and marketing.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI use art to make the unseen visible and to reimagine the familiar,\u201d Haddad told Arab News. \u201cI\u2019m driven by questions like: What happens when the invisible becomes visible? And how do symbols and boundaries shape space?\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n\t\t\tHIGHLIGHTS \n\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\u2022 Ahmad Haddad has exhibited in more than 25 national and international exhibitions, including \u2018The Lost Other\u2019 in Paris (2025) and \u2018Delicacy of Dualities\u2019 in Riyadh (2024). <\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\u2022 He has also collaborated with Misk Art Institute, Misk Global Forum, Riyadh Art, and the Visual Arts Commission. <\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\u2022 He founded Haddad Studio in Riyadh\u2019s Jax District; the space has hosted more than 120 workshops and programs.<\/p>\n


\n\tHaddad has exhibited in more than 25 national and international exhibitions, including \u201cThe Lost Other in Paris\u201d (2025), \u201cDelicacy of Dualities\u201d in Riyadh (2024), \u201cSindbad: I See the Land\u201d in Jeddah (2023), and his solo show \u201cReflection\u201d in Jeddah (2020).<\/p>\n


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\n\t\tThe pen is Ahmad Haddad\u2019s main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. (Supplied) <\/p>\n


\n\tHe has also collaborated with Misk Art Institute, Misk Global Forum, Riyadh Art, and the Visual Arts Commission.<\/p>\n


\n\tHe has twice taken part in the Intermix Residency. In Diriyah last year, he developed a research-based project on the boundaries of beauty in Eastern masculinity. In Paris earlier this year, he extended that inquiry to explore how traditional clothing shapes movement and presence.<\/p>\n


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\n\t\tThe pen is Ahmad Haddad\u2019s main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. (Supplied) <\/p>\n


\n\tHis Paris installation, \u201cYa Ibn \u2018Ammi,\u201d examined solitude and individuality through traditional symbols such as the agal.<\/p>\n


\n\tSound design linked Saudi and French cultural elements in the work. \u201cIt is almost unimaginable to see a traditional Bedouin man in a setting that compromises his dignity, moving with excessive fluidity or softness, or even lowering his gaze,\u201d Haddad explained. \u201cThese unspoken codes profoundly shape our perception of a man\u2019s role in society.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n\t\tThe pen is Ahmad Haddad\u2019s main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. (Supplied) <\/p>\n


\n\tHaddad is preparing to publish his research on traditional dress, which he believes may lead to a follow-up study on how fabric, color, and comfort influence male personality and movement.<\/p>\n


\n\tHis visual language blends anatomy, Qur\u2019anic symbols, geometry, subconscious marks, and forms inspired by Saudi culture and Hijazi heritage.<\/p>\n


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\n\t\tThe pen is Ahmad Haddad\u2019s main instrument to explore the human body, identity, and cultural boundaries. (Supplied) <\/p>\n


\n\tHis creative process often begins with a blue ballpoint pen, followed by acrylics, pastels, and collage on paper, fabric, cardboard, or digital screens.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cA pen records hesitation, weakness, strength, and confidence all at once,\u201d he said. \u201cAs children, we weren\u2019t allowed to use one until we turned 10. Unlike a pencil, a pen offers no eraser \u2014 its marks are permanent. That permanence became part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI always seek the hidden form before the visible one appears,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n


\n\tBlue ink carries deep meaning for him: \u201cI see it as the color of truth \u2014 the hue of universal laws before Earth existed. It\u2019s the color I glimpse in the symbols behind my closed eyes: a blend of divinity, mystery, mortality, and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tIn addition to his art practice, Haddad founded Haddad Studio in Riyadh\u2019s Jax District. The space has hosted more than 120 workshops and programs in 16 Saudi cities, fostering what he calls \u201csustainable creative communities.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAudience engagement is key in some of my projects,\u201d he said. \u201cI produce yearly works based on public interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tCurrently, he is building a strategic partnership to connect Haddad Studio with Paris. \u201cI\u2019m very selective about my inner circle, almost meticulously so \u2014 so it\u2019s easy for me and my friends, despite living in different cities, to share experiences, organize activities, and create workshops that benefit people and exchange knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tFrom the permanence of a pen line to the constraints of traditional dress, Haddad is a Saudi artist challenging the boundaries between form, identity, and cultural memory.<\/p>\n


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